Good Morning All,
Thought I'd post some pics of a Ficus I'm hoping to develop into a banyan. Very new to bonsai, so I've decided to focus on some Ficus and try out a bunch of techniques. This victim was purchased as 2 plants in 8" pots a month ago.
Any consensus on the correct naming? Nursery said White Tigerbark Retusa. I'm calling it Ficus Microcarpa "Retusa". Can't find any references about the "white" naming?
I constructed a grow box for the little fellas while they develop.
There was a large knob on one plant where a heap of branches had sprouted & been left to grow. This was sawed off & turned to the inside. An area of bark on the opposing side was roughed up & the 2 tied with raffia.
The roots of both plants were sawed off to 1/3 & arranged to fit together. Left over roots were attached to the trunks to fill in empty spaces. Seeing how readily Ficus fuse & grow from root cuttings, I've simply pinned 2 roots to the trunks after slicing off a layer of bark & sealed with PVA. I like experiments! The root that mattered most was attached with the more accepted method of T-Cutting the bark & inserting the grafted root underneath. No cut paste on hand, so I soaked a strip of paper towel in PVA & wrapped the wound.
Trimmed off what was growing in the wrong places, wired the branches out & It's been growing great ever since. Still pushing out new growth, but I guess they don't slow down much in Brisbane.
Thanks for looking!
Chunky Ficus - Future Banyan?
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- Aussie Bonsai Fan
- Posts: 59
- Joined: March 8th, 2016, 5:44 pm
- Favorite Species: Ficus
- Bonsai Age: 2
- Bonsai Club: N/A
- Location: Ipswich
Chunky Ficus - Future Banyan?
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- Aussie Bonsai Fan
- Posts: 54
- Joined: May 10th, 2017, 12:48 pm
- Favorite Species: ficus-mini unbrella-jade-natives
- Bonsai Age: 5
- Location: Frazer coast qld
-
- Aussie Bonsai Fan
- Posts: 59
- Joined: March 8th, 2016, 5:44 pm
- Favorite Species: Ficus
- Bonsai Age: 2
- Bonsai Club: N/A
- Location: Ipswich
Re: Chunky Ficus - Future Banyan?
I decided that I wasn't happy with the direction I was taking these two ficus. Trying to cover up the flaws of one tree by combining it with another just seems to multiply my problems
Time for a repot, prune & change of direction.
Plenty of good root growth filled out the whole grow box: Top growth had been left to grow: Roots washed to see what we're working with: The two trunks pushed apart after the raffia loosened over time: New root growth has been crazy. Better sort these out before it's too late to uncross them: Failed root graft where I cut through the bark & secured the cut end against the trunk with a small nail: The root graft where I cut a flap in the bark & inserted the cut end underneath the bark. Paper towel soaked in PVA used to seal the graft: Here's the same graft with the blackened paper towel/glue mess removed. Completely fused. There is a gap where the bark hasn't joined, but I'm hoping this closes over time: Same graft, different angle: After separating the two trees, it was clear that having them together has hindered root development on one side of both trees: Trunk #1 root pruned & cleaned up, ready for it's own home. No more sharing a room with your brother That's better! Free to do it's own thing again: Trunk #2 cleaned up & showing it's good side: Trunk #2 has a bad side. No root growth at all on the side that was against the other trunk: Trunk #2 root pruned & chopped: Repotted & surrounded by some cuttings from it's top half. Hopefully I can graft one of these to fix the lack of roots on the back: It's been a fun project so far. Looking forward to getting some branches set in the next year.
Thanks for looking!
Time for a repot, prune & change of direction.
Plenty of good root growth filled out the whole grow box: Top growth had been left to grow: Roots washed to see what we're working with: The two trunks pushed apart after the raffia loosened over time: New root growth has been crazy. Better sort these out before it's too late to uncross them: Failed root graft where I cut through the bark & secured the cut end against the trunk with a small nail: The root graft where I cut a flap in the bark & inserted the cut end underneath the bark. Paper towel soaked in PVA used to seal the graft: Here's the same graft with the blackened paper towel/glue mess removed. Completely fused. There is a gap where the bark hasn't joined, but I'm hoping this closes over time: Same graft, different angle: After separating the two trees, it was clear that having them together has hindered root development on one side of both trees: Trunk #1 root pruned & cleaned up, ready for it's own home. No more sharing a room with your brother That's better! Free to do it's own thing again: Trunk #2 cleaned up & showing it's good side: Trunk #2 has a bad side. No root growth at all on the side that was against the other trunk: Trunk #2 root pruned & chopped: Repotted & surrounded by some cuttings from it's top half. Hopefully I can graft one of these to fix the lack of roots on the back: It's been a fun project so far. Looking forward to getting some branches set in the next year.
Thanks for looking!
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